Der Fliegende Hollaender

Рихард Вагнер

Richard Wagner

Der Fliegende Hollaender. The Flying Dutchman

ARGUMENT

ACT I

A Norwegian brig is driven out of her course on the homeward voyage, and near the rockbound Norwegian Coast meets with the phantom ship of the “Flying Dutchman.” Daland, the captain of the Norwegian vessel, enters into a compact with the “Flying Dutchman” whose identity, however, is unknown to him, to give him a home and his daughter, Senta, for a wife, in consideration of the rich treasures stored away in the “Flying Dutchman’s” ship.

ACT II

When the curtain rises, a bevy of Norwegian Girls, among whom are Daland’s daughter, Senta and her nurse Mary, are discovered turning their spinning wheels and singing a spinning song. A picture of the “Flying Dutchman” adorns the wall, and Senta, after singing a ballad sketching in incoherent, passionate strains, a story of the subject of the picture, solemnly vows that she will become the means of terminating the torment, to which the “Flying Dutchman” is subjected, and who can only be saved by a woman unwaveringly constant in her love. During the confusion which ensues upon this avowal, the father’s arrival is announced. In the time intervening between this announcement and Daland’s arrival, Erik, Senta’s lover, pleads for his love, and endeavors to persuade Senta that her infatuation for a phantom lover will lead to her irretrievable ruin; but to no avail. Daland arrives and presents the “Flying Dutchman” to his daughter. Senta accepts him as her affianced husband.

ACT III

The curtain rises on the crew of the Norwegian brig singing a frolicking sailor song, and jesting with a bevy of girls, who bring them refreshments. The special object of their jest and fun (in which the girls also join), is the crew of the “Flying Dutchman,” whom they cannot persuade to join in their merry-making. They finally conclude that the crew of the neighboring ship must be dead, and the suspicion gains belief that the “Flying Dutchman” is playing one of his ugly tricks. The crew of the “Flying Dutchman” sing a fantastic song to which the Norwegian sailors intently listen, and whose weird words they finally endeavor to drown in a song of their own. Erik pleads again with Senta, and the “Flying Dutchman” appears on the scene, and orders his crew to prepare for immediate departure, thinking Senta had proven as faithless and inconstant in the love she had vowed him, as the rest of womankind he had come in contact with. Senta, however, vows that she will be true to him, and even after the “Flying Dutchman” discloses his identity, she does not falter in her resolution. “Thine will I be, until death shall us part!” she passionately exclaims and the curtain falls.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Sailors of the Norwegian Vessel. The Crew of the Flying Dutchman. Girls.

SCENE: The Norwegian Coast

ERSTER AKT

ERSTER AUFTRITT

Matrosen

Hohoje! Hohoje! Halloho! u.В s.В w.

Daland

Kein Zweifel! Sieben Meilen fort

Trieb uns der Sturm vom sichern Port.

So nah’ dem Ziel nach langer Fahrt,

War mir der Streich noch aufgespart!

Steuermann

Ho! Capitän!

Daland

Am Bord bei Euch, wie steht’s?

Steuermann

Gut, Capitän! Wir sind auf sicherm Grund.

Daland

’s ist Sandwyk-Strand, genau kenn’ ich die Bucht. —

VerwГјnscht! schon sah am Ufer ich mein Haus,

Senta, mein Kind, glaubt’ ich schon zu umarmen.

Da bläst er aus dem Teufels-Loch heraus. . . .

Wer baut auf Wind, baut auf Satans Erbarmen!

Was hilft’s? der Sturm lässt nach, —

Wenn so er tobte, währt’s nicht lang.

He! Bursche! lange war’t ihr wach;

Zur Ruhe denn, mir ist’s nicht bang!

Nun, Steuermann! die Wache nimmst Du wohl fГјr mich?

Gefahr ist nicht, doch gut ist’s, wenn Du wachst.

Steuermann

Seid ausser Sorg’! Schlaft ruhig, Capitän!

Steuermann

Mit Gewitter und Sturm aus fernem Meer —

Mein Mädel, bin dir nah’.

Über thurmhohe Fluth vom Süden her —

Mein Mädel, ich bin da!

Mein Mädel, we